


i got ever reason to fight

by crowsofmurder



Series: sunset curve headcanons, memories, and moments [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 1990s, Alex Mercer-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby is Not Trevor Wilson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson-centric, But its not relevant, Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Good Friend Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, One Slur, Period-Typical Homophobia, Protective Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Slurs, Trans Bobby Wilson, bobby and trevor are cousins, briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowsofmurder/pseuds/crowsofmurder
Summary: Alex isn't a violent person. But bullies are one of the few sure-fire ways to piss him off.--Or, Alex remembers the time he punched a bully and made a new friend.
Relationships: Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer
Series: sunset curve headcanons, memories, and moments [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143374
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	i got ever reason to fight

**Author's Note:**

> title is from the song Gladiator by Zayde Wølf
> 
> Also, I love writing trans Bobby, so there will definitely be more of him. (And can you see the author projecting?)

Alex was far from a violent person. 

Sure he felt a wave of rage whenever Reggie would show up to school with bags under his bloodshot eyes or when he would catch a glance of the bruises and scars that littered his body. And it wasn’t unheard of for Alex to get into verbal fights with other students if he was around to hear them picking at Luke for his learning difficulties. But Alex Mercer was normally not a violent person. 

If he did get into a fight, it would be over something that was important to him, right? Of course.

If he did get into a fight, it would probably be over Reggie or Luke, right? In a normal situation, yes.

But this time, his best friends had not been the reason he had thrown a punch at a football player in the middle of an empty hallway.   
\--

Alex was just about to round a corner when he heard a crash. He froze for a moment, waiting to see if any other sounds followed. He heard laughter, the cruelty clear as day. Like the kids who would snicker at Luke whenever he ever got called on to read in class. Just hearing it made his blood boil. Alex didn’t hate many things, but of the few things he did hate, bullying would be on that list. He shifted closer to peak around the corner.

He saw three football players and a kid he didn’t recognize. Distantly, Alex remembered Reggie talking about the new kid that had started on Monday, and how he had been nowhere to be seen the following two days. It was now Thursday and Alex wondered if he had skipped those two days because of the bullying. He wouldn’t be surprised. While it had been a year since he came out and the bullying had calmed down since then, he knew how cruel the other students could be. 

Ethan had the new kid pinned to the lockers while Kyle was digging through a backpack. Trevor, interestingly, was standing a bit away from the other two, looking almost sheepish. Odd. Trevor Wilson had never been as active in the bullying as his friends were, but he would usually throw in his own comment or two, maybe shove the target of their torment around a bit before letting Ethan and Kyle have their fun, but it was unlike him to be completely uninvolved. 

Kyle had tossed the bag down just as Ethan pulled away. It seems as though their fun was over. Alex had ducked back around the corner and started to dig through his bag for the small fix aid kit he had on him in case Luke or Reggie needed it when he heard something else. 

“Can’t believe this school has another faggot.” 

Alex was taken back a year ago, a month before he came out to his parents. The three of them had been sitting in the living room, his parents watching the news while he had his head down trying to concentrate on the math homework he had. It was a quiet moment, the calm before the storm. The news had turned to cover a march for gay rights and it had set his father off. Throwing slur after slur, his father slowly getting louder and louder, throwing Alex into a panic attack. He barely remembered shoving his homework into his school bag that had been at his feet and running out the front door with both of his parents yelling after him. The night, he had been in too much of a panic to do anything as he sat there listening to those words leave his father’s mouth. Now, all he saw was red. 

Alex never saw himself as scary. He never tried to be scary. The first time he had ever been called scary was after the first time Reggie came to them broken and bloodied. The Pattersons took one look at the broken boy and basically shoved them all into the car to drive them to the hospital. Luke and Alex had been sitting in the waiting room when Luke leaned over. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this pissed.” His voice was laced with his own anger that he was trying to push down. “It’s a little scary.” At the time Alex had thought he was only trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Now, seeing the slight terror on Ethan’s face as he made his way closer, made him rethink that.

He only got two punches in before he was stopped. The kid was nursing a busted lip and a healing black eye, but he wore it far better than Alex ever could. Nothing about this boy screamed weak. 

“Come on!” He had grabbed the bag that Kyle had tossed and was pulling Alex after him. The pair took off running before Kyle or Ethan could retaliate. As they ran, Alex thought he saw relief on Trevor’s face as they ran past him.

They kept running until they were off school grounds before slowing down to a walk. Alex reached over to hold the boy’s wrist and started walking in the direction of the beach. They walked in silence, both trying to steady their breathing. 

“Thanks for that.” Alex looked over when the other started talking. He wasn’t looking at Alex. He was staring down at the sand, strands of brown hair falling down in front of his face. “I hope it won’t cause you any trouble.” As he spoke, Alex noticed a slight shift in his voice. It was uneven, not like he was out of breath, but like he was being overly conscious of how he was speaking. 

Alex smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’m far too used to those jerks for them to actually worry me.” Brown eyes glanced up at him, narrowed slightly as he watched Alex. He seemed to get what Alex was hinting at because he softened, tension melting away from his shoulders. That made Alex’s smile widen. 

“I’m Alex.” 

He was still quiet for a moment as if he was considering something. But a small smile came to his face when he did decide to speak. “Bobby.”

The pair sent the remainder of the school day wandering the beach and a few shops nearby before meeting up with Luke and Reggie at the pier. They eyed Bobby suspiciously for only a moment before breaking into smiles of their own, Luke knocking his shoulder against Bobby and Reggie talking about hanging out on a regular basis. It took no time at all for Bobby to fall into their banter without issue, easily finding his spot among the group of friends.   
\--

Alex blinked out of his thoughts and was back in the studio. He was laying on the couch with Reggie, who was starting to nod off. Luke and Bobby were spread out on the floor, both too caught up in their conversation that the credits were still rolling on the TV. It was going to suck having to rewind the VCR tape the next time the group decided to watch it, but that was a problem for future them. Alex smiled as he watched two of his best friends. Luke was laying on his stomach, looking down at Bobby as they talked. Bobby, who was nothing like the kid he met those few years ago. He smiled without hesitation, around them at least, and he was so much more comfortable with them. He had ditched his shirt before the movie had started and was now laying around with one of Luke’s jackets on, completely unzipped, showing his binder underneath. Alex stretched his foot out to nudge Bobby’s shoulder. The two looked up at him, clearly unaware that he was still awake.

“Don’t forget to take it off.” He spoke softly, not wanting to startle Reggie. “I know you haven’t worn it much today, but it’s late and I don’t want you falling asleep with it on.”

Bobby smiled. “I won’t. I already grabbed one of Luke’s shirts from the loft. I’ll change in a bit.” 

Alex smiled and nodded. He snuggled closer to Reggie, watching his other boys with half lid eyes as they fell back into their conversation. Alex wasn’t a violent person, but his friends, his boys, were easily the most important people in the world to him. So it was no surprise that they were all the reason he would ever need to fight.


End file.
